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To Mehmet’s family and friends, the Kurdish community and editors at The Kurdish Question:

We at Assemblies for Democracy London have been deeply saddened by the news of the killing of Mehmed Aksoy.

We would like to send our sincere condolences to the family, friends and to the Kurdish community of London and the UK.

Mehmed was an eloquent and devoted defender of the Kurdish People’s struggle and a great champion of real democracy. We were very fortunate to have him speak at our Re-Imagining Democracy event in March 2015. We were touched by his passion and knowledge.

A number of organisations and campaigners have come together to form the Remaking Democracy Alliance that will, as the name suggests, work for a remaking of the institutions of the state and the redistribution of power of at national and local level to create a new democratic governing framework that reflects the sovereignty of the people. RMA founding members include Assemblies for Democracy, Unlock Democracy, the Sortition Foundation, Involve, Compass, Make Votes Matter, Republic, Left Unity, Graham Allen, former chair of the Commons select committee on the constitution, Graham Smith from the Centre for the Study of Democracy and Independent Constitutionalists. At present, the RMA is working on a funding bid for a series of events around the UK in 2019 that will, as one of the aims, build grassroots support for a citizens’ convention on the constitution.

A letter by Malcolm Katz

Last week in this ‘green and pleasant land,’ and with a single stroke of the pen [as it were], all but 13 extraordinarily courageous members of The Commons surrendered any hope for a Parliament following their own Act in holding themselves subject to a five-year, fixed term of office, with the Conservatives calling a snap election Continue reading →

The EU referendum has raised important questions about where power lies and where it should lie, which won’t be seriously addressed without creating an independent process for change. There is a widespread perception that our political system is broken. Many feel that key decisions are made in the interests of corporations, banks and the super wealthy. Increasing inequality and an antiquated voting system, which has produced a majority government with the support of fewer than one in four registered voters, add to a growing discontent.

At the heart of this social disquiet lies our uncodified and somewhat mysterious constitution, whose essential features date back to the end of the 18th century. We have to take democracy into the 21st century, tackle the underlying problems of trust in our political system and address the constitutional issues about how countries within the UK relate to each other.

That is why we are supporting the proposal for the creation of a citizens’ convention on the constitution. This has to be an open, transparent and independent process, because those who hold the levers of power have too much of a vested interest in preserving the status quo. A citizen-led process could refound the UK on the democratic principle of popular sovereignty, where power truly does rest with the people and decisions are made in the public interest.

The Purpose and Process of a Constitutional Convention – read the detailed results of a survey conducted by Assemblies for Democracy London. Those consulted included participants at the May 10 meeting at Parliament plus members of the Assemblies for Democracy planning group. It reveals a thought-provoking and wide range of views on what a convention should be about and how people might be consulted.

Here are the results which reveal both a common purpose and a wide range of ideas: Survey2016

Calls for a convention on the constitution, which emerged strongly in 2014 around the time of Scotland’s independence referendum, have taken on a new lease of life since last year’s general election. They are driven by a growing recognition that system-level change is needed if we are to tackle the pile-up of policies that are attacking the citizenry from every conceivable angle. And there is a clear recognition that the process should be citizen-led if the outcomes of a convention are to have real significance. Jon Trickett, Labour’s shadow communities minister, whose brief includes the constitutional convention, put forward a bold proposal for an independent process at a Democracy Day event organised by Compass earlier this year.

Here are the decisions of the Citizens Convention on the Constitution planning group held on January 30.

1) Following the Democracy Day organised by Compass, which five members of our planning group attended, we will take up Compass’ invitation to be part of a group to work with Jon Trickett MP on proposals for a constitutional convention.

2) We will pursue the possibility of a separate meeting with Jon Trickett.

We are attending both meetings with Trickett in our capacity as an independent, autonomous group.

3) We will plan “Fun Days” in different parts of the UK as exercises in working towards citizens constitutional convention.

Following our Assembly in London on November 14, a planning group was created to continue work on plans for a Citizens Convention on the Constitution. The first meeting was held on December 12. A second meeting on January 9 agreed the following principle and aims:

Principle: “We affirm the democratic principle that power should rest with the people”

Aims

i) campaign for a Citizens Convention on the Constitutionii) work with other campaigns, organisations & individuals on practical steps that lead to the holding of a Conventioniii) launch a citizen/people-led constitutional democratic process

Here are the notes from our the January 9 meeting which was facilitated by Julie and Andy.17 people attended. Apologies from Martha, Malcolm, Susan, Frances, Fiona, Adnan, Gloria. Continue reading →

Oxford Democracy Builders brought people together to discuss the current housing crisis in the city. After some introduction and friendship-building, they began by talking in small groups about our personal experiences of housing in Oxford. Moving on to talk about the causes, many interconnected factors were noted, but they all seemed to be related fundamentally to politics: to the politics of land and property ownership and to finance. Report here